The biggest "hole" in my genealogy is William Cook, my g-g-grandfather, a resident of Union County, TN, s. of Pleasant Cook (9/9/1812-11/11/1896; s. of William Cook and Mary Hughes) and Charlotte Lay (10/13/1816-11/24/1860; d. of William Lay and Sarah Capps). 1850 Census records for Grainger County have William Cook age 14 (hence born ca. 1836); 1860 Census records for Union County (which was created from parts of five counties, including Grainger) have him age 24 and married to Edna Haun (1/29/1831-12/12/1914; d. of Adam Haun and Mary "Polly" Austin) with a new six-month-old baby, Pleasant Newton (12/14/1859-7/9/1932). Subsequently, William died sometime before a March 2, 1863, court action (Union County Court Min 2/335) naming Edna as guardian of P.N., "minor orphan of William Cook deceased." Edna is remarried to a James Cook by November 1866. From what I understand, many of the Union County Court records no longer exist. I have tried to trace the court minutes during two trips to Union County (1992 and 2001), but without success. I am going again this fall with my cousin to do more family history research, including a third attempt to track down more information on William. Making this research more complex is the fact that William Cook is such a common name. Plus, several sources suggest that he may have been named James William Cook or William James Cook. A distant relative, a life-long Union County resident, recalled family stories that Edna had been married to two "Jimmy Cooks." Given that William was 24 in 1860 and died by 1863, it's possible that he might have fought in the Civil War, although there's no family anecdotes to support that. That said, since East Tennessee families were torn between those for the Union and those for the Confederacy, it was not unusual for military service to be hidden, especially when the family had Union leanings and a son or brother was in the Confederate Army (or vice versa). Anyhow, I would appreciate anything anyone could provide to help solve the mystery of William Cook. Regards, Ken Estabrook Home-mail: squamlaker@msn.com Work e-mail: ken.estabrook@jhuapl.edu